Adventurous kids – Page 22 – Letters from Home

When You Turned Twelve

The day you turned twelve, I saw you once in the morning, on your way to school. You opened your first present, a Lego Chewbacca and were happy about that. When you returned home, I was at a tournament and your dad took you camping. You and a friend decided you didn’t need your dads around, so you sent them home and camped out on your own.

I took you on a trip to the Lego store without your brothers and watched you shop very carefully, settling on a red vehicle. Then we met your dad and brothers for dinner at a buffet restaurant and you tried pot roast, got seconds on that, plus plenty of cinnamon butter and scones. There were many plates of food. You tried several desserts and made me a sundae because you are good at that and you are kind. You finished everything off with a mug of hot chocolate. Why not?

We waited a week for Solo to come out and all of us joined you for a matinee at the movie theater, Paige, too! After the movie, you asked your usual reporter questions, “Which was your favorite scene?” “Which character was the best?”

You were so nervous about church, being called up and presented to the congregation. Your nervousness showed itself in your frustration about not having the right skinny tie. Daniel helped you with that, and you wore a skinny coral tie from one of Daniel’s dances, which he tied for you. When you were called to the front of the congregation, I was proud of you for making a short smile to help everyone see the real you.

I know the Legos we bought you will not be played with as much as you believe they will. I know that your hairstyle is becoming a more important concern and I notice how you are hungry all of the time. When you got angry about something recently, you asked what to do to get over it. I suggested you do something you loved. You baked a cake and all was well.

Your favorite subjects are world history and science. You are smart. Sometimes I hear you singing and humming to yourself in your room and wish things could just stay as they are, but we’re on a faster track now. In fact, next year, you will be very different than you are today. Overall, you can look forward to bigger achievements, adventures in nature, a deeper voice, longer math problems, and you may not feel like telling me you love me as often as you do now. It’s ok. I know you still do. And oh, how I love you!

Woods

Timothy has worked hard in woods this year. The electric guitar was his final project and it was fun to go to the wood shop at the school to see all the students’ projects on display. We are really impressed by his guitar! Now, if we just had a guitar amp, he could play it. Oh, my.

This is how he chose to style his cricket table he made in the fall. A round table for a round Millennium Falcon. Perfect.

Gratitude in May

I am able to keep windows open all day lately, and the sounds of the breeze swirling our great cottonwood trees and the fresh air somehow dispel the busy feelings and replace them with grateful feelings. Consistently, I feel grateful for trees and green and warmer air.

May 7-13

grilled hamburgers and a lovely salad
clean sheets and bathrooms
Elder Kearon’s devotional
time to read on Tuesday
my neighbor was able to come over and hear her daughter perform a violin piece
Taste of Home chicken pot pie
passport work finished
the quilting ladies
the trees we had to cut down: Thank you for the beauty.
productive days
a quilt for Morgan
our bishop’s miraculous recovery
piano duets played by our sons
Mother’s Day magnets from Daniel

May 14-20

Paige’s Mother’s Day card
open windows and fresh air
Charlene Kettle
Excedrin
Sunday evening walk with Richard
2 days outdoors at a tournament
NYC tickets ready
Mediterranean salad at Wendy’s
Mark is twelve.
Sunday night gathering of my boys on the bed to talk to me
Mark singing in the choir
Mark playing Uptown Funk and Indiana Jones on the trumpet
Tim’s jazz band recordings from Richard
passport arrived
dinner from my counselors when I was sick

Weekend in the Sun

I just spent a glorious two days watching Timothy’s Ultimate Frisbee state tournament. I am proud of him for running constantly (there were only 8 players and 7 had to be on the field at a time) and for being a decent, respectful, kind human. The team did really well, but I find myself most happy about the way Timothy conducted himself.

Jazz, Art, Band, Choir, Twelve, AP

Richard and I had plans to go to Timothy’s jazz band dinner dance this week, but I was sick and had to miss it. Mark went in my place. I really missed out on a great evening! Timothy was able to play with some seasoned jazz musicians and play some of my favorite big band music. He is the trombone player on the second row in the video.

Today is Mark’s 12th birthday. I am happy for him, and a little sad for me. This week he displayed some work in an art show, played trumpet in a band concert, and sang in a choir concert. I couldn’t get a good photo of him in the back of the band. However, I bet you can spot him easily in the choir. He is ambivalent about the choir experience for many reasons, one being his section.

It’s the Fathers and Sons campout tonight, so we will celebrate Mark tomorrow night with all the good things.

Each day but one this week Daniel or Timothy took AP tests. I tried to warn them, but they took the classes and tests anyway. 😉

Old, Last, and New

Losing trees is one of the saddest things. The previous owners’ daughters called this grove and the stepping stone path through the periwinkle “the beautiful.” I will miss the flicker of light filtering through the leaves. It hurt my heart to see two trees go, but aspens don’t live forever. The trees really called to me when we looked at this house the first time, and I feel some nostalgia for the days when there were tall aspens lining the path.

Speaking of moving to Utah, that was almost six years ago. Leaving Tucson meant leaving the incredible piano ensemble experiences our kids had every spring, where they played duets on a stage with twelve grand pianos. There is nothing on this scale here, but there are “monster concerts” the kids play in the mall with five pianos. It was nice to hear the boys perform duets together one last time before Daniel leaves.

We came home from the monster concert to discover that the corsage Daniel ordered for prom was the wrong color and the flowers were wilting, so I made my first wrist corsage on Saturday. I felt more stress about this corsage than I thought was possible over some flowers and glue. Daniel went to prom with McKenna and I just hoped the flowers would stay on that wrist corsage all evening. I probably should have hoped he would have fun, but that was a given since he was with McKenna and happy friends.

Good Things from Last Week

Paige was accepted into the Illustration BFA program at BYU and things are moving forward with her internship in New York this summer.

Mark was awarded three ranks in Scouting. He achieved the rank of First Class, just in time to turn twelve.

Paige and I drove to Cedar City for lunch with Richard’s female relatives to celebrate his mom’s birthday. I didn’t capture everyone in this picture. With so many schedules it was amazing that so many could make it.

Dessert in Beaver

Daniel learned he is Valedictorian of his class and received the Heritage scholarship at BYU.

Not pictured: Timothy in his tux playing at the State Band competition, winning Frisbee points at the tournament on Saturday, and the electric guitar he is making in his woods class.

Richard and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary.

Not every week is a harvest, and I am thankful when one comes along.

You can drive, but your mom has to be with you.

You might not get a ride at all because your mom forgets to turn up her phone.

(I am feeling sorry today for Timothy and the realities of being fifteen.)

Category: Adventurous kids